The Bracelet
by Kari-chan-06
Summary: What is the meaning of the bracelet Gibbs is wearing? Ducky knows, but he´s not telling.
1. A new case

The Bracelet

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: What is the meaning of the bracelet Gibbs is wearing? Ducky knows, but ihe´s not telling.

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1- A new case

"We got a body, get your gear." Gibbs called at his agents and put his cell phone back into his pocket. His fingers brushed the small bottle in just that pocket, but he ignored it for now. Heading towards the garage, he heard his three agents following him. It was just another case on just another day, nothing special about it, but yet, his gut feeling told him that something about this case would cause upheaval.

When they were in the truck, Kate looked at their boss. "Any information about this case yet?" She asked and looked at her palm pilot. It was a rather sunny day in late October and the leaves had turned red and orange, which looked actually really pretty. She watched the landscape as they drove and wondered when she would have time to go for a ride again. She hadn´t been to the stables for quite a while now. They had worked almost 24/7 for the last weeks on three major cases. It was Friday, but somehow she knew that they wouldn´t get this weekend off either.

"Nothing yet. Police is just securing the scene until we get there. Found his ID and immediately cleared the scene, I guess they learned it by now." Gibbs replied while he took a left turn at a crossing. The truck swayed dangerously, but none of the agents even blinked. They had gotten used to his driving by now. Actually, it seemed a bit less dangerous today, but none really thought about it much.

The park stopped next to a police car and they got out. "NCIS." Gibbs introduced them briefly and waited for the officer to let them pass. "Kate, pictures, McGee, measurements, Dinozzo, check the area." He ordered and walked over to the body that lay next to a tree a few feet away from the main road. Mallard and Palmer came walking over about the same minute.

"Hello, Jethro. What do we have here?" The medical examiner asked as he pulled his gloves on.

"I guess you´re going to tell me soon, Duck." Gibbs replied and looked around for anything that gave him a clue what had happened here. There were cigarette buds and some blood on the ground. He took a sample and bagged everything for Abby to look at. She would be able to tell him more about it. The sun was shining brightly, which gave them good light to work in.

"Boss, there´s some fabric on a fence over here. Looks like silk." Dinozzo called at him and he got up again. "There are footprints as well, three different ones as far as I can see it."

Gibbs nodded. "Well, just take a print and bag that fabric." He told his agent and realized that he had trouble focussing his eyes on anything for a second. He knew this feeling just too well and walked up to the truck, taking out his coffee. He slipped the small bottle out of his pocket and dripped some of the contents into his coffee. Taking a large sip of the warm fluid, he closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he felt better and walked back to the scene. "Anything on the COD, Duck?"

"There seems a blunt head trauma, but I am not certain this is the COD yet. I will be able to tell you more after a proper autopsy, Jethro." Mallard replied and nodded at his assistant to close the body bag. He got up and looked at Gibbs. "Are you feeling quite all right today?" He asked, noting that Gibbs looked slightly pale.

"Sure do, Duck." The answer came a bit too quickly, but knowing his friend, Mallard decided not to inquire any further right now.

Kate had finished taking pictures of the scene and had overheard the last bit of conversation. She frowned slightly. Having worked with Gibbs for so long, she noted a slight undertone in his voice that usually wasn´t there. It wasn´t easy to notice, but as a profiler, she had been trained to note such subtle changes. She made a mental note to ask Ducky about it later on and returned to the truck.

"Hey, Kate, you know that picture would look great on a shirt?" She heard Tony say and spun around. He was holding his PDA in front of him, showing a very familiar picture to her.

"Tony! You said you deleted that!" She said and tried to grab the device from him, but he slipped it back into his pocket and grinned. "I wonder if our intel magazine is still taking pictures for the "My best friend and me"-contest. You and your cowboy friend sure look cute." She snapped back at him, but he just grinned.

"Kate, Kate, Kate. That is not me and everyone will notice." He said and slowly got a bit worried when she continued to grin at him. "Hey, don´t do anything you´ll regret later on. I mean, hey, that was just a joke. You didn´t really think I would do that? We´re friends."

"You better be talking about this case." Gibbs´ voice broke the short silence between them as he got back into the truck. "I want everything about our dead marine as soon as we´re back at the office." He snapped and both agents exchanged a look of horror. They weren´t quite sure why he was so pissed off all of the sudden. His mood had been rather good all day long, at least until a few minutes ago.


	2. Flashback

The Bracelet

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: What is the meaning of the bracelet Gibbs is wearing? Ducky knows, buthe´s not telling.

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2- Flashback

The clock on the computer screen read 3:24 am. Kate looked at it for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. She was tired and had a hard time concentrating on the files on her desk. The dead officer they had found seemed to have a more complicated life than anyone she knew. "Kate, finished with the background yet?" Gibbs´ voice cut into her thoughts and she sighed. He had been almost unbearable ever since they returned from the scene. There was a strain in his voice and she could tell that he was just as exhausted as the rest of them, but of course he tried to hide it.

"I got three more files to go. This guy has more girlfriends than Tony." She said and continued to read, but knew that she wouldn´t get anything done. Her concentration was screwed and she kept seeing colored spots dancing in front of her eyes.

"Well, get going then." He got up from his desk, throwing his empty cup into the trash can. As he passed McGee´s desk, he slammed his fist onto it. "McGee, this is not a sleepover. I´m still waiting for that report on the cell phone."

"Boss, the phone company just has an emergency hotline that´s busy all the time. It´s after hours and..." McGee started and Kate ducked behind her desk. If there was one thing that set Gibbs off on a day like this, it was complaining about how late it was.

"That was not what I was asking for. Get going and do it NOW!" With that, he rushed out of the bullpen and Kate dropped her head onto her desk.

"Could anyone just kill me?" She muttered and wondered how long they would be here this time. Their record was 3 days, but at least Gibbs had let them sleep for 4 hours each night during that assignment. This was hell for sure.

"I´m too tired for that." Dinozzo replied and rolled up under his desk, resting his head on his jacket. "I´m going to sleep." He mumbled and really was sound asleep only moments later.

McGee followed his example and rolled up under his desk as well. He put the report on top of his desk and a paper with the words "Out of order" next to his head before closing his eyes. The floor was hard and uncomfortable, but after working for more almost 24 hours straight, he was more than just simply tired. "Night, you two." He said and dozed off.

Kate sighed and decided to follow the example of her two colleagues. She knew rather well that Gibbs would give them hell when he returned, but she could hardly keep her eyes open anymore, so she figured that even a few minutes of sleep would be wonderful before not getting any at all. She knew her back would kill her in the morning, but still, Kate fell asleep about the same moment the elevator opened again.

Gibbs walked back into the bullpen, noticing that it was completely quiet now. He took a sip of his coffee and smiled slightly. Eventhough he still wanted to get going on this case, he could understand his three agents rather well as he looked at the three sleeping figures under the desks. McGee had put his jacket on like a blanket and Tony wore a thick sweatshirt. He took his coat and walked over to Kate´s desk, carefully covering her up. He knew that she would be freezing in her thin shirt and somehow, he cared about her too much to let that happen.

Sitting at his desk, he watched them sleep. They had been working together for a long time now and somehow, he regarded them as his family, inspite of how strange that would seem to an outsider. He took the small bottle out of his pocket and put a few drops into his cup, noticing that the bottle was almost empty. He made a note to get a new one the following day. As he put it back into his pocket, his silver bracelet touched his watch and he cringed at the sound of it. This sound had been following him for almost 20 years now, but he still hated it. It reminded him of how much everything had changed on that Wednesday in late October.

"_Blue team, east entrance, red team, west entrance. Black team, give them cover. Green team, you´re moving in." The sound of the teamleader came through the comm system and 24 year-old Jethro Gibbs felt his heart beating louder. His muscles tensed and he gripped his gun tighter. Adrenalin was rushing through his system, quickly taking the tense feeling away. This was what he had been trained to do, this was what he wanted to do. He had just recently been promoted and he was going to prove that he had really earned it._

_He looked around at his team. Everyone had a green patch on the back of the helmet, showing the team they belonged to. "All right, everyone. Let´s go!" He shouted and raised his gun, running towards the main entrance of the building. He knew that there would be resistance, but they were going to finish this assignment. Shots echoed from the building and he heard bullets hitting the ground all around them. He heard his second in command cry out in pain as he fell to the ground next to him. "Tim, get up!" He called at the man, who had become his friend over the last months and turned around. The next second, the world was a red and black explosion and he was lifted off his feet, crashing into the ground several feet back._

_Sharp pain shot through his whole body and he could hardly breath. The air seemed to burn his lungs and he gasped for air. A figure appeared above him, but he didn´t see the face. Everything greyed out and there were just black flashes dancing in front of his eyes as he tried to breath, but felt no air getting in. His chest was on fire and unconsciousness finally covered him like a soft blanket, which he welcomed without any second thoughts._

Gibbs shook those memories off and tried to concentrate again, but somehow he couldn´t. He knew that he wasn´t going to get much done and walked down into autopsy to get some sleep. The autopsy table wasn´t really comfortable, but he had slept here before. The nightmare came back that night and he woke twice with a start, calming his breath. It took him a few moments to realize that everything was okay, but with every breath he took, he calmed down more. Everything was fine, just fine. He was fit for duty, fitter than anyone had expected him to be. It had been hard work and still required lots of exercise, but he was willing to put that work in to stay on the job. He wouldn´t let it destroy his life.


	3. Wrong track

The Bracelet

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: What is the meaning of the bracelet Gibbs is wearing? Ducky knows, but is not telling.

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3- Wrong track

Dr. Donald Mallard smiled slightly when he walked into the bullpen the following morning. At first, he figured that the team had gone home late, but when a sound from one of the desks startled him, he noticed three sleeping figures there. They looked exhausted and he knew they would feel awful. The fourth desk was deserted, but he had a pretty good idea where he would find him.

Walking into autopsy, Mallard noticed the person sleeping on one of the tables. He went over and touched his shoulder. "Jethro?" The man shot up immediately and rubbed his eyes. "I figured that I would find you here. You didn´t answer your phone at home last night." The doctor explained and leaned against another table. "Are you going to tell me what is bothering you, my friend?"

Gibbs got up and stretched. "Nothing is bothering me, Duck. What makes you think that?" He said and straightened his clothes a bit, but his efforts didn´t really pay off. A night in the morgue usually left signs, even when one was still alive.

Ducky threw a stern look at him. "Jethro, I may be old, but you cannot fool me yet. How much did you have to take lately?" He inquired and nodded at the small bottle sitting on the edge of the table.

"About half a bottle in the last two weeks. Happened before, Duck. Always happens when there´s lots going on." He tried to defend himself, but knew that it wasn´t working. Ducky knew him too well for that.

"Jethro, when was your last check at the hospital? Did you go to that appointment I made for you?" Mallard asked, but he already knew the answer. "You need to be checked at least once every six months. They need to adjust your medication and you know that. If you don´t go, I have to declare you unfit for duty, as much as I hate to pull that on you, but you are endangering your health and safety."

Gibbs sighed. He hated these talks, but a part of him knew that his friend was right. "Okay, you win. Just make that damn appointment for me and I´ll go." He said and walked into the elevator. "Just don´t tell anyone." He added before the doors closed.

Up in the bullpen, his three agents were still asleep. At first, he wanted to yell at them and make them jump, but then, he realized how much work they really put into this job. Another realization that dawned on him was that he could lose this terrific team any time. It was not his decision how long he stayed on this job. He couldn´t do anything about it because nobody knew how much time he had left. He knelt down next to Kate and touched her shoulder. "Kate?" He asked and she started to stir. "Time to get up."

He moved on to McGee and Dinozzo, but he simply smacked their heads as he reached them. "Rise and shine, everyone. There´s a lot of work waiting for us on this beautiful day." He said, but inside, he didn´t feel as cheerful as he made it sound. He knew he had to tell them some day, but he was scared. It was hard to admit that to himself, but he really was. Except for Ducky, only the Director knew about his secret and he intended to leave it this way a little longer.

Three very sleepy heads appeared behind the desks. "Wow...what time is it?" Tony asked and got up slowly, stretching his aching back.

"Not late enough." Kate replied and tried to pull her hair into a ponytail. She felt like that one time a car had almost run her over and somehow she had felt lots better then.

"Kate, get that background check finished. Dinozzo, I´m waiting for the list of contacts on our marine. And McGee, Abby seems to have trouble with her computer, go give her a hand. I don´t want to wait days for that DNA analysis." Gibbs said and took a sip of coffee. He wanted to get a lead in this case. Robert Morgan left a wife and two small children and he wanted to find the person who had killed him.

Mallard came walking into the bullpen around noon, right after Abby had brought up the results of the second type of blood that had been found on the body. "Mr. Morgan was killed by hand. His neck is snapped -not from a fall. The fracture is too straight for that. I suspect someone with military training did that, since it´s a common defense technique taught especially in the marine corps." He said and handed two pieces of paper to him.

Gibbs just nodded and looked at them. One was the report on the dead marine, the other note was handwritten. "Tomorrow, 6 pm." It read and he sighed inwardly. On one hand, he knew he had to go, but on the other hand, it scared him every time again. "McGee, what do we have on Seargent William Farrow Jr?" He asked and only half listened to what the young agent rattled down. It didn´t fit. Though they had found Farrow´s blood on the body, the Seargent was almost a head smaller than the victim. "We´re heading for the base, I want to talk to everyone in Morgan´s group."

Kate grabbed her palm pilot and followed her co-workers to the truck. Interviewing possible suspects was the one part of this job she actually liked. It had nothing to do with violence or hunting anyone down. She could use her profiling skills on this and it made her feel good when she could rule out anyone.

The group consisted of six people, seven counting the victim, each one an expert in his field. They split up to conduct the interviews while Gibbs went to the CO, a Gunnery Seargent named Edward Ross. Kate took Farrow and a female PO named Richards. It didn´t take her very long to cross both names from the list of possible suspects. Farrow was a head smaller than the victim and rather slim. Richards wasn´t tall enough either. She was about to release Richards when the young woman hesitated for a moment. "Ma´am...it wasn´t Bill. He...he and Rob were just trying to help me." She said and Kate sat back down at the table.

"Robby saw that I had a black eye and he ran to Bill to ask him about it. Robby is my cousin, he was trying to protect me. I´ve been dating Bill for a while now..." The young woman slowly said and Kate felt a very bad feeling rising within her. "They started to fight, but then Bill told him about what that guy had done. They went up to protect me from him, to tell him that he would get in trouble if he touched me again...Bill got a call from his sister and stayed behind for just a moment. He couldn´t find Rob again that night and we didn´t know where he was until they told us he was dead..."

Kate felt that this was turning into an unexpected direction now and looked at Richards. "Who?" She simply asked and felt herself tensing up. She knew she had to react quickly in case the PO named someone from their list.

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I´m not really sure if I should go on with this story. It would be nice to see if there are actually people are actually interested to see it go on, but right now I´m not really seeing that -I´m really grateful for those who have taken the time to write a short review on it, so I hope I can get some more feedback to see if I should go on or rather put my story ideas on the shelf again...


	4. Man Down

The Bracelet

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: What is the meaning of the bracelet Gibbs is wearing? Ducky knows, but is not telling.

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4- Man down

"Gunnery Seargent Ross." The young woman whispered and put her head into her hands, crying softly. Kate felt her mind racing. The name seemed to ring a bell, but she wasn´t really sure for about a second. After that second had passed, she pulled her phone out and dialed Gibbs´ number. She knew that hewas going to talk to him and that it was a little ways from the housing area they were at right now -Ross was living about half a mile from this area. There was no answer and she felt her heart beating faster.

She dialed a different number and almost immediately got an answer. "Tony, we´re on the wrong track, it´s Ross." She said and a moment later her partner came running out of the room at the other end of the building. Their eyes met and she saw the same horror in his eyes she knew he saw in hers.

As they sprinted out of the building, she heard Tony calling McGee, who was in a neighboring building. "Probie, we need to get to Gibbs, now." He called and threw the phone back into his pocket. "How could we miss that?" He asked and kept running. "Did you call him?"

"I tried, but he´s not answering. Tony, what if..." She started, but didn´t finish as he put his hand on her arm as they continued to run.

"Don´t even dare to think about that, Kate. He´s okay." He said and pulled his gun out of the holster. Deep inside, he was just really worried, but he wouldn´t let her notice. They needed to concentrate on the task ahead. "You take the left, I take the right." He told her when they stormed in. The building seemed deserted, lights were dimmed in the hallway. Most doors seemed to hold offices, which were dark as it was rather late already. At the end of the hallway there was light shining through a gap under a door.

The noise from inside the room sounded like a fight, but there was no way to be sure of that. It could be some movie, but both doubted that their boss would go and watch a movie during an investigation. Tony kicked the door, sending a large piece of the lock flying through the air. Two people were in the room, one of them pinned to the floor. There was blood, lots of blood.

Kate didn´t think twice when she took aim and shot the man who sat on top, a large shard of glass raised above his head. She hit his shoulder, sending him off the second person. She immediately handcuffed Ross and shoved him into a corner of the room, making sure that he couldn´t get back up without help. Tony had put his gun away and knelt down next to their boss. She heard him curse and he jumped up again. "Make sure he doesn´t move." He yelled and bolted out, phone at the ear again.

It took a few moments until Kate realized that Gibbs was still lying on the floor. Normally, he was up quickly, no matter how badly he had been beaten, but this time, he barely moved at all. She heard him gasping for air and was at his side immediately. He had a deep gash on his head and his hands were covered with blood. Ross must have tried to stab him with that piece of glass, causing him to deflect the attack with his hands, but she couldn´t see any wounds on his upper body though. "Help is on the way. Just lie still." She told him and noted that he finally looked at her. There something in his eyes she had never seen before -fear.

"Kate..." He whispered, but started to cough immediately. A thin trail of blood ran out the corner of his mouth and she started to pray that Tony came back quickly. Without thinking, she took his hand and held on to it in an attempt to reassure him that he would be okay. She wasn´t so sure about it at this moment though.

"Don´t talk, you´ll be okay." She whispered and noted that he tried to show her something. She noticed the thin silver bracelet and took it between her fingers. He had been wearing this thing for as long as she knew him. She kept holding his hand and turned the bracelet on his arm to see what was written on the metal plate. Her blood froze when she saw the emblem and read the words etched into the metal right next to it. "Gibbs...no..." Her voice failed her and she turned towards the door where she heard Tony on the phone. "Tony! Hurry up!" She called at him as panic started to grip her heart.

His breathing got more labored with every second and the trail of blood didn´t stop to run down over his chin. The ambulance arrived a few minutes later. They put him to sleep immediately and inserted a tube to help him breathe. Kate showed the bracelet to one of the medics and they doubled their efforts to bring him out quickly. Tony had not seen the bracelet, but he sensed that something wasvery wrong. When the ambulance tore out of the parking area, she looked at him. "We have to call Ducky." She said and tried to take her phone out, but her hands were shaking too much.

He put his hands onto her shoulders and forced her to look at him, realizing how much fear there was in her eyes. "What did they look at on his arm?" He asked and pulled his own phone out to call Ducky. He handed it to her, knowing that she could explain it better.

"Ducky, it´s Kate. Gibbs has been beaten upand they brought him to the hospital. You need to see him... He had trouble breathing and..." She stopped and listened for a moment. "I saw it, yes. Okay, we´re on the way." She handed the phone back to Tony and felt tears burning in her eyes. "Ducky said they will take him to Bethesda. We´re to meet him there."

Dinozzo still wondered what was going on, but he knew Kate well enough to notice her confusion. "Okay, let´s get McGee and go." Tim came running towards them as they approached the parking lot. He was out of breath and didn´t ask anything until they were in the car. "Kate, what was on that bracelet? That medic looked at it and suddenly they kinda panicked." Tony asked, catching a puzzled look from McGee.

Kate turned to their younger colleague first. "It was Ross, he beat Gibbs up badly. He was about to stab him when we came in. They took him to hospital." She told him and noticed how the color drained from his face. She tried to gather her thoughts. "You know those bracelets they give people who are haemophilic? It´s something like that."Kate said and felt a lump in her throat as the car tore out of the base, right behind the ambulance.She sighed and closed her eyes. "He had a lung transplant." The words echoed in her mind and she could see the words etched into the shiny metal again.


	5. Wait and Hope

The Bracelet

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: What is the meaning of the bracelet Gibbs is wearing? Ducky knows, but is not telling.

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5- Wait and Hope

Nobody spoke until Tony parked the car at the hospital. He turned to Kate. "You´re kidding me, right? A lung transplant? But he´s running around all the time. I heard that people with a transplant can hardly play any sports because it puts too much strain on their lungs." He said and she nodded.

"I know. I´m no medic, but that´s what it said on that plate. There´s Ducky!" She said and ran over towards Mallard, who was wearing a green jumpsuit. "How is he?" She inquired and noted concern lining his face.

"He overexerted himself severely over the last days, weakening his body. Plus he took some hard hits on his ribcage. They still have him in the trauma center as we speak. His left lung collapsed during transport and the other side doesn´t look much better at the moment." The doctor said, obviously shocked and still hiding something.

"So he did have a lung transplant?" Tony blurted out, moaning as Kate elbowed him for that.

Ducky motioned them to follow him towards the waiting area. "Jethro has been injured while being on duty in the marine corps. He was caught in an explosion which burned his lungs. He was lucky because they had anotherman dying at the hospital that night who matched his genetics. He wouldn´t have survived otherwise. It took him a long time to get back up, but he never gave up. He couldn´t return to the marine corps, so he chose NCIS instead. We first met during his time in rehabilitation. They required him to do tests every six months to make sure heis still doing okay. One of the major risks is overexertion, because it makes him more sensitive to infections. You have probably noticed that he never had as much as a cold. He takes a medication to avoid rejection of the transplant, which also weakens his immune system. He knows that very well, but he´s always been stubborn." He told them and Kate felt all color draining from her face. She felt sick and exhausted all of the sudden. She just wanted to curl up in some dark corner and cry, but she knew she couldn´t do that right now.

"What´s going to happen now?" She asked, her voice shaking. She felt an arm around her shoulders and noted that Tony was holding her in an embrace. Normally, she would have kicked him for coming so close, but tonight she didn´t mind. She needed someone to reassure her tonight and she was glad that it was him.

Mallard thought for a moment. "They will try to stabilize him, but they put him on the transplant list again. If the damage is too extensive, they need to find a new lung for him quickly..." He didn´t finish the sentence, but all three agents knew what this meant. "We have to wait and hope. I will tell you as soon as there are any news, but you should really go home." He walked back through the green door marked emergency room and disappeared from their sight.

None of them moved for several minutes. They were still exhausted from sleeping on the office floor the night before and the recent events, but none of them wanted to go home. Kate leaned against Tony and felt tears rolling down her face. "He can´t leave us..."

He still held her and wiped her tears away with one finger of his other hand. "It´s not up to us to decide that, Kate." He replied and looked at McGee, who hadn´t said a word. "He´s strong, he´ll make it, Tim." Tony said and noted how the younger man´s head shot up at the sound of his first name. It was the first time ever he heard Dinozzo use it.

It was another few minutes until McGee spoke up. "We´re not helping him by collapsing in the waiting room from exhaustion." He said and thought about where to go that was close to this place. "My place is just three blocks from here...we could go there if you want to stay close." He offered and saw Kate smiling at him.

"Good idea, Tim. We should call up Abby when we get there. She needs to know too." She said and slowly got up. Her knees felt soft and she wanted nothing more but to get out of this place. Her two male colleagues followed her and they crashed at McGee´s place 10 minutes later. Tim picked up the phone while Tony tried to find something eatable in the kitchen. The whole livingroom was filled with computer parts and other electronic devices.

Kate curled up in a recliner and watched McGee, who was sitting on a chair next to his desk. "Abbs, it´s Tim. Yes, I know what time it is. Listen, Gibbs got hurt and he´s in hospital. No, we don´t know. Ducky is with him. Yes, they´re here, just come over and we´ll tell you everything. Okay, bye." He said and hung up again. "She´ll be over in a few minutes." He accepted a sandwich from Tony and looked at it. He was hungry, but somehow he felt like he was going to get sick when he ate anything.

Abby arrived only 20 minutes later. Her make-up was smeared and there were still tears in her eyes. She threw herself into McGee´s arms, causing Tony to raise an eyebrow, but he was sensitive enough not to comment on it. Kate had fallen asleep already and after telling Abby what had happened, all of them settled down somewhere to get some sleep as well. All of them shot up again when Tony´s cell phone started to ring a while later. It took him almost 10 seconds to find it and open it. "Dinozzo." The look on his face changed between worry and hope for a moment. "Okay, we´re on the way." He hung up and saw the others looking at him.

"Ducky said we need to come immediately." He said and all were up the same second. Tony checked the clock on the microwave. It was not quite 3 am. They made it back to Bethesda in less than 7 minutes, not caring about any red lights or speed limits. Ducky was waiting for them in the lobby.

Kate noticed that he looked even older now, his eyes dark with concern and circles beneath them. "Ducky, what´s wrong? Is he..." She asked and eyed him closely to catch a glimpse of what he was thinking.


	6. Disobeying Orders

The Bracelet

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: What is the meaning of the bracelet Gibbs is wearing? Ducky knows, but is not telling.

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6- Disobeying orders

Mallard lead them into the waiting room again. His eyes didn´t give away what he was feeling. He knew he had woken them after a mere two or three hours of sleep. All of them looked worn out and ready to collapse on the spot. "He´s still unconscious and and I´m not going to lie to you. It is not certain if he will make it through the night. You need to be prepared for that." He finally told them. Both Abby and Kate started to cry again and flung themselves at their male colleagues. McGee had tears in his eyes too and even Tony seemed very shocked.

"No..." Kate whispered, but she wasn´t really sure it was her voice. Everything seemed so unreal. This couldn´t be happening. She felt Tony´s arms around her and felt his head on top of hers, but still she hoped that this was just a dream.

"I will go and ask if you can see him. It may take a moment, so please have a seat." Ducky said and disappeared again. The four of them settled down and waited for him to return, but an hour passed and nothing happened. Kate and Abby fell asleep again quickly, even McGee was on the edge to fall asleep after a few minutes. Only Tony felt wide awake. The shock had mobilized his last energy reserves, but at the same time he felt empty somehow. Gibbs might have been a bastard and everyone sometimes complained about his mood, but at the same kind, he was their boss. He had pushed them to perform at the best of their abilities, no matter how complicated a case seemed or how strenous investigation was. He had made them what they really where now -the best team around NCIS and a group of very close friends. At some point, he dozed off as well, not seeing the smile that flashed across Ducky´s face as he came back almost two hours later.

It was an odd sight that met him in the waiting room. Donald Mallard had known these four people for a long time, but he had never seen them as close before. He contemplated to wake them up, but then decided to let them sleep for a little while. All of them wouldn´t be much use if he woke them yet again after such a short time. The situation had changed now and he knew that it wasn´t a matter of just a few hours anymore. With a smile, Ducky returned into the emergency room and pulled his gown off. Exhaustion was claiming its toll on him now and he retired to a small intern´s room at the end of the corridor. The alarmclock would wake him three hours later, just in time for a nice breakfast.

Around 6 am he was up again and walked back into the waiting room with a tray of coffee. Ducky cleared his throat, watching Kate shooting up from the sound. She lost her balance and dropped onto the floor, moaningin pain when her elbow made contact with the hard ground. The others shot up as well a moment later. They accepted the coffee from him and just looked at him with questioning looks on their faces. Ducky watched them rise for a few seconds, realizing that they looked more dead than alive at the moment. "When you have finished your coffee, I will take you to see him for a moment." He said, wisely hiding the smile that had been on his face for a while now.

As if on cue, all fourput their cups onto the table and jumped up. They were eager to see their boss, no matter how bad the news were. Ducky smiled as he lead the way. Gibbs had a wonderful team there. He stopped in front of a simple wooden door. "Just for a few minutes though." He opened it and let them enter.

Tony forced Kate into the room, his hands still on her shoulders. He felt her tensing up and knew that she would run out again if he let go of her. McGee and Abby were right behind him. The shades were drawn and there wasn´t much light in the room. He had expected more machines around the bed, but there were just very few. A rhythmic beeping filled the room, telling that the person in the bed was alive. Tony had expected a respirator, but there was none, only two IV lines connecting with Gibbs´ arm and a monitor for his heartbeat.

Kate choked back the tears that were rising into her eyes again. She was standing next to the bed now, but didn´t dare to move or say anything. A part of her wanted to reach out and make sure that he was really alive. Ducky walked up to the other side of the bed and looked at the monitor above the bed. "Did you bring me some coffee, Duck?"A raspy voice from the bed suddenly asked. He sounded tired, but Kate realized with a start that his breathing seemed just fine.

He turned his head to look at them, his blue eyes flashing. "Did anyonesee the license plate of the truck that hit me?" He asked and moaned when both Kate and Abby threw themselves at him to hug him. "Careful with my ribs, okay?" He said and pulled a face when the backed up again.

Tony looked startled and shot a questioning look at Ducky. "My fears were not confirmed, which is very very lucky in this case. They found two fractured ribs that had pierced his lung.. That was what made it look so bad. I´m sorry for worrying you." Mallard told them with a huge smile on his face.

Kate put her hand over her mouth as tears started to trickle down her face. She felt a hand touching her arm and looked at him. "Thanks for reacting so quickly, Kate." Gibbs told her and smiled one of his rare smiles. His gaze returned to the rest of them. "By the way, you look like hell. All of you." He said and was rewarded by four darting looks for this. "Get out of here." He ordered them and it almost sounded like his normal self.

They were immensly relieved and returned to the office. Nobody actually thought about going home to sleep. There were reports waiting to be finished and it was a normal weekday after all. McGee went down to Starbuck´s and brought some extra strong coffee up to keep going. Kate got some sandwiches from another store and they continued their work where they had left off almost two days ago. The point of being tired lay far behind them, which was not healthy of course, but they didn´t really care.

It was around 5 pm and most of the staff had left the building when the elevator opened and two men stepped out. "Jethro, I must insist that you go home and get some rest. I believe that you should have stayed at the hospital for the time being. You will need several days to recover and your ribs need at least three weeks to heal." Ducky said, but as usually his concerns were ignored. He stayed in the elevator to go down to the morgue, knowing that any further discussion would not lead to anything.

"I know very well what I can do and what I can´t do. And I can´t stay at that hospital for a minute longer -nor can I stay at home. You know me, Duck." Gibbs replied as he walked up to his desk and stopped dead in his tracks. The other desks were not deserted like they should be. Their three occupants were sound asleep. Tony was actually drooling over a file and McGee was sleep talking. Kate was curled up under her desk, her head resting on her purse.


	7. Recovery

The Bracelet

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: What is the meaning of the bracelet Gibbs is wearing? Ducky knows, but is not telling.

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7- Recovery

Steps behind him made him turn around and he felt a sharp pain erupting in his sides. He bit his lip and heard Ducky chuckle. "Abigail is in the lab, sound asleep beneath her desk." He said and then looked around. "Oh...She doesn´t seem to be the only one who has decided on a sleep over at the office. I believe you should wake them and send them home, Jethro. They will get seriously ill if they don´t get a full night of rest in a decent bed. As well as you should go home."

"I will. You should go home, too. Go wake Abby and take her home. I´ll wake the rest." Gibbs said and watched his friend walk back into the elevator. Kneeling down next to Kate, he shifted into a position that didn´t hurt his ribs and put his hand onto her shoulder. "Kate? Hey, wake up." He whispered and watched her eyelids flutter. Her face looked ashen and he could only imagine how long she hadn´t slept. "Kate? Open your eyes." He tried again and she finally opened her eyes. There was something like surprise in her eyes, but she didn´t move. A smile played on her lips and her eyes started to close again. "Hey, no more sleeping. You need to go home." He said, but she was asleep again. He got up again with a sigh. If it wasn´t for his ribs, he would have carried her into his car and driven her home, but he could hardly turn around without crying out in pain.

Waiting a few moments, he tried waking one of his other agents, but they too were out cold, not even reacting when he slapped their shoulders rather hard. Tony merely mumbled something about chocolate and turned his head to the other side. Returning to Kate´s desk, he looked into her brown eyes. She pulled herself up, but the circles under her eyes and the missing coordination in her movements told him that she could hardly keep herself up right now. "I´ll take you home." He told her and put an arm around her, biting back the pain that rose in his side at this.

Kate felt like she was drugged or in some kind of trance. She felt herself moving towards the parking lot and getting into a car, but her dazed brain didn´t really take anything in until the car stopped again. "Come on, Kate. Let´s get you home." A voice said and she knew it was familiar, but everything seemed like a giant blur. A few minutes later, she dropped onto her bed and fell asleep immediately. She didn´t notice when Gibbs pulled the cover over her and brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

As he walked back towards the front door, he noticed that his cell phone was ringing. "Gibbs." He answered it, wondering who would call him.

"Ah, Jethro. I just wanted to tell you that I have managed to send both Anthony and Timothy home. Abigail is going with Timothy for today and I shall retire as well now. Did you get Caitlin home safely?" Ducky asked and there was kind of a smile in his voice.

"Sure did." Gibbs said, sitting down on the couch for a moment to give his aching ribs a break. "See you tomorrow, Duck." He put the phone down and drifted to sleep a moment later, not even realizing that he was still at Kate´s place. Finally, all of them were getting their much needed rest. Gibbs woke up the following morning, feeling lots better. He was a bit confused at first and it took him a moment to remember where he was, but then he remembered and smiled. Making sure that Kate was still sleeping, he left her apartment and drove to the office. He had a report to write and some absences to explain to the director, but he was glad to do so. The pain in his ribs reminded him that he should be at home, but being Gibbs, he didn´t really care for the time being.

The recent events had made him realize how much this team meant to him. When he put his pen down, he noticed the sound of his bracelet colliding with his watch, but this time, the sound didn´t make a chill run down his back. This time, it reminded him of the wonderful people he had around him. It was a good feeling and for the first time in 20 years, he didn´t mind wearing the small silver bracelet on his left arm. He would never mind again because it made him realize just how close all of them really were.

END


End file.
